


Constant

by SqueeneyTodd



Series: Adjustment [3]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-09
Updated: 2015-11-09
Packaged: 2018-04-30 18:17:25
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,002
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5174252
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SqueeneyTodd/pseuds/SqueeneyTodd
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>She appreciated things that stayed constant.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Constant

She appreciated things that stayed constant.

She knew that the house she had left behind, far below the earth, would not last forever. Nothing did, of course. Even that shoe pile, that little room, would fall in time and decay.

Her little room on the surface, now, she had tried to keep it relatively the same over the years, and there had been several since the exodus to the surface. Things had become better in that relatively short period. Humans and monsters seemed to have adjusted just fine, especially since none of the humans that had exiled them in the first place were alive anymore. Humans were very strong, but their physical form was not as sustainable as the magical nature of monsters. Even their greatest magicians, the ones who had trapped monsters underground in the first place, had passed long ago. No, humans did not last that long, for all the power they had.

Frisk had grown much taller since they left the underground. They were still in school, of course. It had not been so long that Frisk would have moved on to their own home, or their own family, if they wished to do so. No, Frisk was still her child despite their growth. They had many years left, she hoped, before anything serious would befall them; they could be healed with magic, at the very least. And it was rare for Frisk to go anywhere without the company of a monster; they had made friends of an entire kingdom, after all. If they went out alone, they were bound to run into a friendly face. That was a nice constant, she supposed.

Despite everything, she was still a mother. That would never change.

She was also still a teacher. The school she taught at was still predominantly filled with monster children, but it was equaling out, she felt. Her child had been a very dutiful and effective ambassador, filled with determination and ready to talk anyone into submission. No one could avoid the aura of peace and friendship surrounding them. It’s amazing no one ever stepped forward to claim Frisk as their own flesh and blood, but that is something Toriel did not enjoy thinking about. As far as constants go, she was Frisk’s mother. That is what Frisk would say when asked, and that would always be the truth. 

That school had been the start of it, really-the first truly integrated monster-human school. Monsters and humans both helped with the funding and construction, and it had been up and running within a year of monster liberation. The power of determination really was incredible. Hopefully, the school would be around for a long, long time. It would if she had any say in it (and considering how long she would be around to say something, she most definitely would). And certainly she would never let her little family be forgotten as major contributors to the project, from Papyrus and Undyne’s… passion for spreading the word, to Asgore doing his best in the world of human politics when he had been in a monarch position for so long, to Alphys laying out the physical plans. And Sans helped here and there, never just in one place, never on just one project. It was hard to pin him on any committee really, especially since he could still appear anywhere he wished at any time. One thing that was never explained and probably never would be.

At the very least, he was the one who actually held a job (several jobs?) at the school once it was finished. He had worked on the janitorial staff at some point (did he still?); maybe one day she’d convince him to stop hiding all that knowledge he seemed to have about the sciences and take up teaching. She doubted that would happen, but a person with a lot of time has enough of it to waste on pipe dreams. Maybe she would go for the substitute teacher angle first and go from there. She didn’t know how long skeletons “lived”, but she figured he and his brother would be around for a while longer than others.

Perhaps constants were too dangerous a thing to hold onto when your life could be one of the few real constants that exist. She had accepted long ago that it could be the case; there was only one other boss monster in existence as far as she knew, and they would remain good friends for however long their lives did last. Everything changes, but some things once changed can never be reversed. When she thought of constants, she did not mean things that would last forever. The constants she loved would be gone in years to come: friends, family, homes, peace. Goodnight kisses. Knocks on a door. The very sunrise she was watching at that moment. They all would last long enough to be remembered by her, and perhaps that was enough. It is what she said to herself for comfort, and most of the time it worked just fine. “Knock, knock.” She smiled, not turning from the window. “Who’s there?” “Dishes.” She snorted gleefully. “And here I thought you never ran out of material,” she said, turning toward him. Sans shrugged.

“Dishes the first time someone has wanted to hear all I had in me,” Sans replied. He walked up next to her, smiling, eyes closed and hands in his jacket pockets. “Can’t beat a classic, though.” For a moment, neither of them said anything, and then there was a crash from down the hall. Toriel released her breath, laughing lightly.

“Knock, knock.”

“Who’s there?”

“School.”

“School who?”

“ _School_ of you to tell me so many jokes!” She smiled expectantly, receiving boisterous laughter as usual. Sans offered a hand in an exaggerated manner, which she accepted before they left the room. At that moment Toriel needed to make sure no one had broken anything inside or out, but they would have more time and material by nightfall.

**Author's Note:**

> probably the last of this series that i never planned on writing in the first place. thanks for reading.


End file.
